It's CannonFest day!

See you at CannonFest at 2PM!

Is this a Blue Jackets third jersey preview?

The Columbus Blue Jackets official Twitter feed just posted a photo of new assistant coach Dan Hinote talking to the junior-junior-junior Blue Jackets at hockey camp:

My nephew has done that camp before, but I've never seen jersey designs like these in Columbus.  Are we getting a sneak preview of the new third jersey design?

Presuming that this is an early release of the new third jersey, here are my early impressions: 1) Looks like grey on the top and bottom, which I say because the jerseys look darker than the ice (in that dark photo).  2) The "center stripe" look is a reinterpretation of a vintage style, with Chicago using them on their Winter Classic/thirds to much acclaim.  (Of course, the Habs have had that look for what seems like forever.)  3) How much money do you want to bet that the cannon design on the front will be in a circle-styled seal look like the Blackhawks' logo on their thirds?  Or St Louis' third jersey design?  Or Pittsburgh's?  Or Florida's?

What are your thoughts?  Am I totally off-base in thinking that we got our first look at the new jersey design? Do you like what you see so far?

UPDATE: It appears that the jerseys are custom-made by Ace Sports.  Using their online "build your jersey" tool, I was able to approximate what I saw using the "Fox" template.  This pretty well tells me that this is NOT the third jersey.  However, as CBJGreenSeater says, "Still could be a similar design though," which I don't doubt.  But we're now deep into wild speculation...the jerseys in the photo are pretty clearly NOT the new CBJ thirds.


UPDATE 2: The truth, right from the source.

I have seen Skraut's new CBJ video...

...and it is really, really good.

His work on Vimeo is really good, don't get me wrong.  But this one...wow.  I'm SO ready for hockey season to start!

And, of course, the video will be premiered on the big screens at Buffalo Wild Wings during CannonFest.  After seeing it, you too will be asking why the Columbus Blue Jackets don't put this guy on game ops.

To whet your appetite, here's another Skraut gem from days past.  Recognize the old faces?

Blue Jackets - Blue Tide from Skraut on Vimeo.

CannonFest - Jacket Backer giveaways; Bubble Hockey!

We've known that the Jacket Backers - the official fan club of the Columbus Blue Jackets - was going to take a role in CannonFest.  What we didn't know was that the club comes bearing gifts!

Yup, they're bringing Jacket Backer shirts and pucks, as well as a few player-signed items.  The one that you need to know about, though, is an 09-10 TEAM-signed CBJ wooden sign. That would be the entire pre-trade deadline roster.  This is a pretty sharp item, I've been told, and there will be a special raffle for it.  Only $1/chance, I believe.

The Jacket Backers do much, much more than just show up with swag, however.  They organize road trips, game watches, arena tours and tons more.  Learn more about this great group at CannonFest!

A CannonFest primer - and a coupon!

Just in case any of you didn't get the point behind this whole CannonFest concept:

That's right: Hot August weather plus good food and beverage plus hockey talk equals happy people.  It's that simple.  So come out to BWW's on Sunday afternoon and join in the fun!

If that isn't enough, Buffalo Wild Wings has a third coupon for you:

There will also be giveaways (from both BWW's and the Jacket Backers), nearly every CBJ blogger we could find and even a special guest!  Yup, Todd Sharrock, Vice President for Public Relations for the Columbus Blue Jackets is planning on spending a little time with us to munch on wings and talk CBJ.

Should be a really good time.  Hope to meet you there!

CannonFest offers you the chance at 110 ounces of bliss

With one week to go until the inaugural CannonFest, Buffalo Wild Wings has sweetened the pot with a giveaway for a genuine Molson Canadian beer tower - of the Columbus Blue Jackets persuasion, of course.

And what's more, they're also offering yet another beverage discount to attendees:

We're just one week away!  Cancel your plans, put on your Jackets gear and join us at BWW's for an afternoon of pre-preseason hockey talk!

A modest proposal: 82 in 10

About a month ago, the Columbus Blue Jackets' budget-team rival in the NHL's Central Division, the Nashville Predators, issued a press release trumpeting its new television deal with Fox Sports Tennessee.  In the release, the Preds said,

The National Hockey League’s Nashville Predators, the team’s television broadcast partner FOX Sports Tennessee and its sister station SportSouth announced today a new four-year broadcast deal that will see the networks televise 60 Nashville Predators regular-season games this season (2010-11), 65 regular-season games during years two (2011-12) and three (2012-13) and 70 games in the fourth year (2013-14) of the deal. The goal in year one of the agreement is to broadcast a minimum of 45 games in high definition, with increases each year thereafter.

Interesting. Only 60 games in a season? Only 45 in high-definition? In an 82-game season?  Is Bill Wirtz back from The Great Beyond and running the Preds?

But this isn't a Nashville Predators sympathy blog.  Far from it.  It's a Columbus Blue Jackets blog, and the real value of the Preds announcement to yours truly was that it prompted me to take a look-see at the television situation with the Blue Jackets and their television broadcast partner, Fox Sports Ohio (FSO).  With the help of FSO's communications manager, Kate Buddinhagen and CBJ fan stats guru En4cer45, I went about trying to construct a picture of the Blue Jackets' history on TV, the issues involved in broadcasting them and the prospects going forward.

Who were the CBJ's last-minute scorers?

By request, I looked into a special type of scorer for the Columbus Blue Jackets - the end of the period, last-minute scorers.  By this, I filtered out the players who scored in the final minute of any period in a Blue Jackets game last season.  As my anonymous commenter suggested, there is a reason to look at these numbers:

How about a +/- relating to goals scored in the final 60 seconds of a period? That could show us who should be out on the ice in that final shift.

"Hey Antoine, how about you drop one in right at the end of the period?"
"Sure thing, Rusty!"  (Photo by Beauty Playin' Eh)

Yes, it could.  That goal in the final minute of the period can have a positive effect on team morale going into the locker room.  So let's look into the numbers and see who came up big as a last-minute scorer for the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2009-2010:

• Antoine Vermette - 6 goals
• R.J. Umberger - 4 goals
• Rick Nash & Jake Voracek - 3 goals each
• Raffi Torres - 2 goals
• Jared Boll, Derick Brassard, Jason Chimera, Mike Commodore, Kristian Huselius, Andrew Murray & Anton Stralman - 1 goal each

Vermette, Umberger and Nash (sounds like a law firm) come out on top again.  This trio seems like the gutsy core of our team.  At the same time, don't overlook Jake Voracek...his scoring can't be overlooked and will probably be even more important now that Raffi Torres is gone.

Perhaps the most intriguing revelation of this query, however, was the number of empty net goals that the Jackets scored.  Empty netters count just like any other goals, but they also could represent the closeout to a game that was already won.  Thus, it's worth taking the empty netters out and seeing who's scoring against a goalie in what presuably would be a tighter game:

• Antoine Vermette - 3 goals
• Rick Nash, Jake Voracek, Raffi Torres & R.J. Umberger - 2 goals each
• Jared Boll, Derick Brassard, Jason Chimera, Mike Commodore, Kristian Huselius & Andrew Murray - 1 goal each

But let's not discount the empty netter altogether.  If we did, we'd lose sight of gorgeous displays of talent like this one from R.J. Umberger at 18:52 of the 3rd period against the loathesome Dallas Stars (didn't qualify for this list because it wasn't in the 19th minute, but it's a sweet goal nonetheless):

Who are the CBJ's pace-setting scorers?

The second post in my "Blue Jackets by the Numbers" series takes a look at the polar opposite of the first, which looked at clutch goal scorers.  While I would never suggest that the combination of scoring acumen, ice water in the veins and a dash of good fortune is anything but the most important combination in sports, I think it's also important to look at those who come roaring out of the gates to get their team on the path to victory.

Thus, we're going to look at the Columbus Blue Jackets players who scored the "pace-setting" goals, or the first goal for the team in a game.  It's not necessarily an easy thing to break the scoring ice, and those who have the touch early provide needed spark to get their team moving.  As we all know, momentum is king in sports, so let's celebrate those who gave the Blue Jackets momentum last season.

Need an early Blue Jackets goal?  Look to Antoine Vermette!
(Photo from DailyMe)

This particular query was much easier to construct; all I did was filter through the goal scorers who put the CBJ on the board first in the first period in a given game.  With no further ado, here's your list of 2009-2010 Columbus Blue Jackets pace-setter goal scorers:

• Antoine Vermette - 5 games
• Rick Nash - 3 games
• Jason Chimera, Kristian Huselius & Andrew Murray - 2 games each
• Derick Brassard, Chris Clark, Raffi Torres & R.J. Umberger - 1 game each

Oh my...Antoine Vermette is quite a sparkplug.  But here's an interesting trivia note: He scored 4 of those 5 goals on the road!  Matters not, as a goal is a goal no matter where it is scored.  Vermette's efforts largely didn't help the cause, though, as the Jackets lost 4 of the 5 games in which he was the team's first first-period scorer.

CannonFest coupon surfaces

Perhaps you heard a rumor that Buffalo Wild Wings was working up a couple fun promotions for CannonFest.  You would be right.

Here's the first - get one of those giant cans of Canadian beer, just like you do at Nationwide Arena.  Helps lubricate the hockey talk.  (Of course, don't overdo it...you have to survive 'til the start of hockey season!)

We in the Columbus Blue Jackets blogging community hope you can join in the fun at CannonFest!  It'll be a great, laid back time to talk NHL hockey with many of your fellow bloggers and fans.

Clip and save this coupon so you can use it on the 15th!  Only 2 weeks away....!!